Flexible mattress handle



I y 9 1%. I M. BECHIK 2,248,328

FLEXIBLE MATTRESS HANDLE I F il'ed May'l 1939 2 Sheets SheatI- INVENTORJuly 8, 1941. v M, 515mm 2,24 ,328

FLEXIBLE MATTRESS HANDLE Filed May 19, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORATTO RN EY Patented July 8, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I FLEXIBLEMATTRESS HANDLE v Michael Bechik, St. Paul, Minn.

Application May 19, 1939, Serial No. 274,586

Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in handles, wherein it is desiredto provide a detachable handle for mattresses, cushions or the like.

For several years it has been common practice to provide most mattressesmanufactured with handles by means of which the mattresses may be easilyhandled. The mattress handles used have been of various types, but areordinarily secured in the side wall of the mattress in such a way thatthe ends of the handle are anchored inside of the mattress wall, or elseare anchored to a grommet or rivet extending through the side wall ofthe mattress. It will be seen that in either event, should the handlebecome damaged or soiled, it would be impossible to repair the samewithout opening the mattress up. The opening of the side wall of amattress is difficult for the ordinary person to do, as most persons arenot equipped with suitable machines to sew the mattress up againproperly. For this reason, once the handles have become broken, it wasnecessary to get along without any handle.

The present invention relates to a handle which is provided withanchoring means engageable with a reinforcing means on the inner surfaceof the mattress wall and which may be detached from the mattress wall ifdesired and replaced. Thus if the handle becomes damaged, it is possibleto remove the broken parts of the same and to insert a new mattresshandle into the mattress wall withoutitaking' the mattress apart. I

It is a purpose of my invention to provide "a mattress handle which maybe formed of flexible material and which may be provided at each endwith anchoring means which may extend through grommets or similarreinforcing means in the wall of the mattress and be anchored on theinner wall surface. With such a construction, the handle may be readilyapplied after the mattress has been completed, and if the handle becomesdamaged or soiled, it may be readily replaced. It is recognized thatit'may be difficult to remove the anchored'ends of the handle through theopening in the mattress wall, but

which the reinforced anchoring ends of the'handle may extend, and toprovide reinforcing means overlying the inner surface of the mattresswall against which said anchoring means may engage so that the pull uponthe handle is distributed over a relatively large area.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be moreclearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In'the drawings forming a part of 'my specification:

Figurel is a front elevational view of the mattress side wall showingthe handle in place thereupon.

Figure 2 is a rear view of the same'mattress side wall showing theportion of the handle embedded within the mattress wall.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view through the mattress wall and handle,the section being indicated by the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail view of" one end Of-the handle as it is insertedinto place through the mattress wall. I

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure-4; showing the other end of thehandle after it has been inserted throughthe grommet inthe' mattresswall.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through-amodified form of mattress handleconstruction; 5

Figure '7 illustrates the manner in which the handle end of the handleillustrated in FigureG' is inserted in place. 1

Figure Sis a sectional view through a modified form of handleconstruction.

Figure 9 is a'perspective view- 'ofthe anchor ing means used in thehandle of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a handle end and amodified form ofanchoring member.

Figure 11' is a view of the anchoring member disclosed in Figure 10before the same has been in any event, the old handle'may b'eeasily.discarded by cutting the handle cord in the center and pushing each endof the handle into the mattress and subsequently inserting anew handlein place.

It is a feature of my'invention to provide a flexible handle withanchoring means at each end thereof, to provide spaced gromm ts t roughbent.

Figure 12 illustrates the manner in which the anchoring means of Figures10 and 11' operate to anchor the handle;

Figure 13 illustratesa resilient reinforcing member which may be used onthe inner surface of the mattress wall. A

. Figur'e'14 illustrates a modified form of resilient reinforcing meansfor use in place of the construction of Figure 13.

- The handle'A'is applied to the side wall ll! of the mattress B. Thissidewall l0 usually contains padding such as II and 'is quilted by rowsof stitching l2 as illustrated in the drawings.-

In the construction of the handle A, a resilient reinforcing means suchas the strip |3 of spring steel or the like overlies the innersurface'of the mattress wall. The spring steel strip is provided with apair of spaced openings near the end of the same, and grommets I5 extendthrough the mattress wall I and the steel strip l3 through the openings|4 therein to hold the strip |3 firmly overlying the inner surface ofthe mattress wall.

As indicated in Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the drawings, the ends l6 of thespring strip l3 are rounded and are bent inwardly away from the mattresswall ID at the ends. tendency for the ends of this reinforcing bar todig into the side wall of the mattress and to injure the same.

A handle cord I1 is provided with an anchoring means I 9 at either endof the same to anchor the ends of the handle |1 against the spring strip3. The anchoring means l9 comprises a tubular member designed toencircle the extreme ends of the handle cord I1 and to be clamped ontothese ends. To assist the holding action teeth 2| are punched from thetubular member 20 and extend down into the body of the handle IT toprevent the ends of the handle from being pulled out of the tubularmember 23.

Each of the tubular members 29 are provided with a projecting end 22which is an extension of a small portion of the tubular member 29 on oneend of the same. This extension does not prevent the flexible handlecord I! from. bending adjacent the end of the tubular member 23 but doesin itself remain straight with respect to the tubular portion so that asthe end of the handle is inserted into the grommet and extends throughthe mattress wall, the projecting portion 20 will engage the innersurface of the mattress wall and will hold the handle end anchored inplace.

In Figure 6 of the drawings I disclose a handle C which is secured tothe mattress Wall 23. The wall 23 has a flexible steel spring 24overlying the inner surface of the same and reinforcing plates 25 whichare interposed between the ends of the spring bar 24 and the wall of themattress at each end of the bar. The plates 25 are L- shaped and areprovided with an opening 26 through the upstanding portion of the same.Grommets 2! extend through the mattress wall 23 and through alignedopenings in the reinforcing plates 25 and the ends of the spring bar 24to hold these elements in proper relationship.

The handle cord 29 is provided with reinforc ing ends 30 which comprisea cylindrical portion 3| and a projecting tip end 32. In inserting thehandle in place, it is necessary to pull the handle cord 29 through thegrommet 21 sufficiently to slip the projecting end 32 of the handlethrough the opening 26 in the reinforcing plate 25. This procedure isillustrated in Figure 7 of the drawings. If the handle is applied whilethe mattress wall is open, the projecting end 32 may be bent outwardlyas illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawings. Even without this upwardextension of the projecting encl- 32, however, the reinforcing member 3|is of such a length that it would be virtually impossible that thisreinforcing tip 3!) slip out of the hole 26 accidentally.

In Figures 8 and 9 of the drawings, I disclose a modified form of handleD. In this construction the mattress wall is identical in every detailto that illustrated in Figures 1 through 5 inclusive, and accordingly,the mattress and wall have been given similar numerals. Spaced grom-Thus there is no mets |5 extend through the wall l9 and through spacedopenings M in the spring steel bar l3.

The handle cord 33 used in the handle D is provided at each end with areinforcing tip 34 of the type illustrated in Figure 9 of the drawings.The anchoring tip 34 is provided with a tubular portion 35 having ondiametrically opposed sides projecting arms 35. A tooth 31 is bent fromthe tubular portion 34 and projects into the body of the handle 33 toprevent the handle from pulling out.

The handle D is assembled by inserting one end of the handle cord 33containing the reinforcing anchoring tip 34 thereupon through one of thegrommets I5. After the reinforcing member has been inserted through thegrommet, the

cord is bent so that the spaced arms 36 engage the surface of thegrommet I5 and prevent the end of the handle cord 33 from pulling backout through the grommet. The opposite end of the handle is then insertedin the other grommet IS in a similar manner, the spring strip |3 beingflexed to bring the grommets sufficiently close together to permit thisoperation to take place. The handle D may be readily assembled after themattress has been completed, or new handle cords such as 33 may beapplied after completion of the remainder of the assembly.

In Figures 10, 11, and 12 of the drawings, I disclose a handleconstruction E which is slightly modified from the form illustrated inFigure 8. In this form of construction the .handle cord 39 has clampedadjacent each end thereof a washer 49. This washer 49 as bestillustrated in Figure 11 of the drawingsis folded along a fold line 4|through the center of the washer and is cut or ground along a line suchas 42 on each side of the fold line 4| to make the washer considerablythinner than usual. The washer 49 is applied to the handle cord 39 bymerely folding the washer along the fold line 4|, thus clamping the endof the handle cord between the sides of the washer.

The washer 49 forms the anchoring means for the ends of the handle cord39. In Figure 12 of the drawings, I disclose a mattress wall 43 having aspring bar 44 overlying the inner surface of the same and havinggrommets 45 extending through the mattress wall and the spring bar 44.As illustrated in dotted. outline, the washer 4|) and the attachedhandle 39 are slipped through the grommet 45. -When once the Washer 40hasslipped through the grommet 45, the washer engages over the innersurface of the grommet 45 crossways and prevents the handle cord 39 frombeing pulled out. In other words, similar to the other constructions,the washer 40 will pass through the grommet 45 in a longitudinaldirection, but when turned crossways in its natural position, will actto anchor the end of the cord 39.

In Figures 13 and. 14 of the drawings, I disclose different types ofresilient bars which may be used in place of the spring strip'suchas l3or 24. In Figure 13 of'the drawings, I disclose a fiat wire spring 43which lies flat against the inner surface of the mattress wall and whichis provided with loops :41 on opposite ends of the same through whichsecuring grommets may be inserted. In Figure 14 of the drawings Idisclose a coil spring 49 having fiat loop ends' 50 through whichgrommets may be extended. When the springs 46 or 49 are used in place ofthe spring strip, it is obvious that a reinforcing Washer should be usedoverlying the inner surface of the mattress wall to provide a bearingfor the anchoring means used to secure the ends of the handle cord inplace. While the springs 46 and 49 have been shown in separate figures,it is understood that these springs couldbe substituted for either thespring strip I3, 24, or 44 without changing my invention.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principlesof construction and operation of my mattress handle; and while I haveendeavored to set forth the best embodiments thereof, I desire to haveit understood that this is only illustrated of a means of carrying outmy invention, and that obvious changes may be made within the scope ofthe following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A mattress handle comprising a resilient reinforcing bar designed tooverlie the inner surface of a mattress wall, a pair of grommetsextending through said bar and said mattress wall to hold said bar tosaid mattress wall, a flexible handle cord stretched taut by theresilience of said bar overlying the outer surface of the mattress wallbetween said openings and having ends extending through said openings,and anchoring means on the ends of said flexible handle of elongatedform capable of passing through said grommets longitudinally but toolong to pass through said grommets transversely.

2. A handle for mattress walls comprising, a relatively stiff normallyflat flexible reinforcing means overlying the inner surface of themattress wall, a pair of spaced grommets extending through the mattresswall and said reinforcing means, a flexible handle overlying the outersurface of the mattress wall between said spaced grommets, and means onthe ends of said handle detachably anchoring said handle within themattress wall, said reinforcing bar flexing to permit attachment of saidhandle.

3. A mattress handle for use with a mattress wall comprising, a flexibleresilient reinforcing means overlying the inner surface of the mattresswal1,'a pair of spaced grommets extending through the mattress wall andsaid reinforcing means, a flexible handle stretched taut by saidreinforcing means overlying the outer surface of the mattress wallbetween said grommets, and anchoring means on the ends of said handle ofa shape to pass through said grommets, said anchoring means engaging theinner surface of said grommets to hold the ends of the handle anchoredin place, and held firmly against said grommets by said reinforcing bar.

4. A mattress handle for use in combination with a mattress wall havinga resilient reinforcing means overlying the inner surface thereof, and apair of spaced reinforced openings through said mattress wall and saidreinforcing means, said handle including a flexible cord stretched tautby the resilience of said reinfoncing means overlying the outer surfaceof the mattress wall between said openings and having the ends thereofextended through said reinforced openings, and anchoring means on theends of said handle cord, said anchoring means including means anchoringsaid anchoring means to said cord, and a projecting means designed toproject beyond said anchoring means and to engage the opposite sides ofsaid reinforced openings to prevent the handle ends from being pulledout of said openings.

5. A handle for mattress walls comprising, a pair of spaced gromemtsproviding openings extending through said mattress wall, a flexibleresilient reinforcing means overlying the inner surface of the mattresswall, anchoring at its ends to said grommets, a flexible handleoverlying the outer surface of the mattress wall between said spacedgrommets and means on the ends of said handle designed to engage oversaid opening on the inside of said mattress wall for detachablyanchoring said handle within the mattress wall, said reinforcing barflexing to permit attachment of said handle.

MICHAEL BECI-IIK.

Patent No. 2, 2J+8,5 8

\ CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTIGN.

I 1 July 8; 19m. MICHAEL BECHIK.-

it is hereby certified. that error eppears in the printed specificationoi the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows; Paige 5..sec-' ond column, line 52, claim 5, for "grom emtet read -gromx'nets-qline 55, same claim, for "anchoring" read --anchoredand that the saidLetters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the samemay c'onform to the record o'f'the case in the Patent Office.

- Signed and sealed this- 26th de of Au ust, A. 1). 19m.

Henry Ansdale I 1 Acting Commissioner of- Patents.

